Zulu venue mix-up leaves school dancing

A school in East Yorkshire had a surprise visit from a group of Zulu dancers from South Africa who arrived at the wrong venue due to a mix-up with addresses.

The Lions of Zululand were supposed to perform at a school in London, but instead turned up at St Anne's School in Welton more than 200 miles away.

Despite the mistake the troupe gave two performances for the children.

Assistant head Christine Lee said she was "surprised" when they arrived.

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"There was a busload of Zulu warriors came into school, very unexpected," she said.

"They said 'St Anne's?' We said 'yes, but we weren't expecting you'."

The dancers then realised they had come to the wrong school and should have been at a similarly named school in the capital.

"Obviously it was three and a half hours away," said Ms Lee

"They were going for the full day and decided they were not going to get there and so we invited them to stay."

'Blown away'

The group's founder Mduduzi Mkize explained: "The addresses got mixed up on my date sheet and we ended up here.

"It's just been wonderful. It's just been great. It's our first time here, they never knew about us.

"I spoke to them explaining what we do and they fell in love with that and they wanted to see what I was talking about."

The performers have been invited back to the school next year

The dancers gave two performances of traditional Zulu songs and dances to pupils in the upper and lower school.

Ms Lee said the children at the special needs school were "blown away" by the shows.

"Their loss in London, unfortunately, was our benefit, definitely. We just thanked them so much for coming to the wrong school," she said.

Mr Mkize said the school had invited them back for another performance next year.